Easy peasy blueberry muffins

I was having a friend over for tea the other day and wanted to offer her something sweet. I knew I couldn’t leave the house as I was waiting for a guy to come around and install our broadband, so instead of running to the bakery I had to get my hands dirty.

And I’m not much of a baker, especially not when recipes get just the tiniest bit complicated. So I went for the simplest of blueberry muffin recipes.

They were quite yummy, not too unhealthy, and couldn’t have been easier to make. Also, I had most of the ingredients in the cupboard.

Here’s what you need…. (10 muffins)

110g butter
65g caster sugar
2 eggs
110g flour
1½ tsp baking powder
A tiny pinch of salt
1 small pack of blueberries (or other berries or even dark chocolate, if you’re naughty)

OPTIONAL: Orange zest OR a pinch of nutmeg

How to do it…

Whisk the sugar and butter together with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Add the eggs, whisk gently, add the flour, salt,  (orange zest or nutmeg) and baking powder. Leave in fridge to set for at least an hour – preferably overnight.

Put the mixture into lightly greased muffin forms until forms are a bit more than half full, and put around 8 blueberries in each. Bake at 200C for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with creme fraiche or greek yoghurt.

Butternut suppe – butternut soup

Foto: Mette Bassett

Vintertid er suppetid. En af mine favoritingredienser er den skønne, søde butternut squash, som får ekstra fyldig smag, hvis man bager den i ovnen (så slipper du også for at skrælle den). Jeg har prøvet mig frem med forskellige opskrifter, og resultatet bliver bedst, hvis man holder det så enkelt som muligt, som f.eks. sådan her:

Butternut suppe

1 butternut squash
1-5 chili’er (alt efter smag)
1 stort løg
3-5 fed hvidløg (alt efter smag)
Bouillon (kyllinge- eller grøntsags)
Lidt fløde (kan undlades)
Salt, peber

Sådan gør du:
Skær butternut squashen over i to halve, skrab kernerne ud og læg den i et fad, smurt med olivenolive. Kødsiden skal vende nedad.  Bages v. ca. 200 grader indtil squashen er blød (stik gaffel gennem skindet for at tjekke). Det tager cirka en time.

Hak løg, hvidløg og chilier og steg dem på panden i lidt olivenolie indtil løgene er bløde.

Skrab kødet ud af squashen og over i en blender, tilføj de stegte løg/chili og bouillon efter behov (nb: suppen kan også blendes med en stavblender, direkte i gryden).

Hæld den blendede suppe over i en gryde og varm op, suppen skal ikke koge. Tilføj en smule  fløde og smag til med salt og peber og evt. lidt muskatnød.

Server med hjemmebagt brød eller hvidløgsflute.

TIPS! Gem kernerne fra squashen, skyl dem og rist dem i olie og salt på panden. Og vupti så har du  en lækker præ-middags-snak.

VELBEKOMME!

English summary:

Foto: Mette Bassett

Winter calls for hot steaming soups. I love the sweet butternut squash and have experimented with different recipes. I think it tastes the best when you don’t mess too much around with the lovely flavour of the squash. This is my favourite recipe:

Butternut soup

1 butternut squash

1-5 chilis (medium heat)

1 big onion

1-5 cloves of garlic

Chicken or vegetable bouillon/stock

1/2 cup of cream (can be left out)

Salt, pepper to taste

This is how you do it:

Wash and cut the butternut squash in half. Remove the kernels. (Tip: keep the kernels, rinse them and fry them in olive oil and salt for at pre-dinner tasty snack!)

Roast the butternut squash in a tray in the oven w. the “meat” side down until soft at 200 degrees celsius. This takes around an hour. Prick a fork through the skin to check if the squash is done.

In the mean time fry the onions, garlic and chilis in a bit of olive oil, until tender.

Scrape the butternut flesh into a blender or food processor. Add onions, garlic and chilis and bouillon and puree until smooth.

Pour into a saucepan and heat up again. The soup shouldn’t boil.  Add a bit of cream and more stock if the soup is too thick. Add salt and pepper and/or nutmeg to taste.

Serve with home-baked buttered bread or garlic toast.